April 22, 2017

NESN: Dave O'Brien, Camden Yards, And Park Factors

As Hanley Ramirez batted in the top of the fourth inning last night (April 21), NESN's Dave O'Brien said:
He has nine home runs against the Orioles in his career. It's the most he has against any American League team. From Day 1, since the moment they finished it, [Camden Yards has] has been one of the premier hitters' parks in baseball.
Camden Yards, which opened 25 years ago this month, certainly has a solid reputation as a hitters' park, both in scoring runs and when it comes to hitting home runs. But I wondered (naturally!) whether what O'Brien was saying was actually true.

ESPN has Park Factors going back to 2001. This is how Camden Yards ranked among the 30 major league teams in frequency of hits, runs scored, and home runs.
MLB Rank    Hits   Runs    HRs
2001        23rd   24th   24th
2002        18th   15th    8th
2003        18th   21st   14th
2004        10th    7th   12th
2005        24th   27th   15th
2006         7th   17th    8th
2007         4th    6th    3rd
2008         7th   10th    1st
2009         3rd   11th    5th
2010         3rd    5th    5th
2011        15th   12th    8th
2012         4th    5th    5th
2013        18th   10th    4th
2014        17th   22nd   20th
2015         3rd    3rd    2nd
2016        18th   19th   18th
2017        17th   20th   26th
Camden Yards has been below-average when it comes to both hits and runs in eight of the last 16 full seasons (2001-2016).

Fangraphs' Park Factors are different from those at ESPN. Fangraphs calculates 100 as league average (similar to ERA+ and OPS+). For example, a Park Factor of 105 regarding doubles would mean that doubles are hit in that park 5% more than in a league-average park.
        Runs    2Bs    HRs
1992     101     96    104
1993     101     96    104
1994     101     96    104
1995     101     95    105
1996      99     94    103
1997      98     93    102
1998      97     91    101
1999      97     91    101
2000      96     91    101
2001      96     91    101
2002      97     93    102
2003      97     95    101
2004      98     95    103
2005      99     97    103
2006     101     97    106
2007     100     97    107
2008     102     98    110
2009     102    100    109
2010     103    101    110
2011     103    100    110
2012     102    100    107
2013     103     99    108
2014     102     99    108
2015     102     99    108
2016     102     99    108
According to Fangraphs, Camden Yards has never been a good park for doubles, though it has always been above-average for home runs.

Finally, Baseball Reference also calculates 100 as league average and offers a "batting" number and a "pitching" number.
         BAT     PIT
1992      99      98
1993     105     104
1994     108     107
1995     103     102
1996      95      94
1997     102     100
1998      95      94
1999      95      97
2000      95      96
2001      94      95
2002      96      97
2003      96      97
2004     105     104
2005      94      95
2006      98      99
2007     104     105
2008     101     102
2009      99     100
2010     102     104
2011      96      97
2012     109     109
2013     103     103
2014      92      96
2015     109     109
2016     101     101

3 comments:

SJJ said...

Yankee fans and Yankee announcers do same thing. It is sort of a northeast myth.

laura k said...

You and your facts, getting in the way of O'Brien's story.

laura k said...

Yankee fans and Yankee announcers do same thing. It is sort of a northeast myth.

Most things that come out of announcers' mouths are myths. With the possible exception of play-by-play.